What is an average American family?

[C&G'sMama]

Warning, I’m going to be waxing philosophical…. Again.


So as NYS goes into another “fight” for marriage equality my daughter had a slumber party for her 11th birthday. A pretty normal rite of passage for a little girl.
There were five other girls at her party.

DD – 11 years old with 2 moms and a younger brother

Friends
1. An only child with a mom and dad
2. Oldest of 6 children, a fully sibling group adopted by a husband and wife
3. Child with 1 younger sister and a mom and dad
4. An only child with 2 moms
5. A child who lives with her grandparents, her single mom and her “half” brother and an aunt.
Then there are the 2 boys down the street who crash the party as they have a crush on child 5 and they’re good eaters so we were able to get rid of a lot of pizza and cake on them. They have 3 older ½ siblings the oldest is from dad’s first marriage and the next 2 from dad’s 2nd marriage.
And the list goes on of our children’s friends and classmates our neighbor etc.
I think the above represents the average American family. Some of the above families are of the same race as each other many aren’t.

And that doesn’t include our extended family. Our best friend and GodFather to our daughter. Gay and happily single. The number of times we’ve been out together and he’s been thought to be our kids’ dad are countless. And the expression on some of the guys he used to go out with faces when we passed them in the street was priceless.

What’s the same about all of our familes? We love our kids and each other. We are trying to be and raise productive, respectful members of society. Isn’t that what family is?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Excellent post
I agree, I think families are about love--and THAT is what we all have in common.
I do think it is a very powerful argument: the "typical American Family" with two married heterosexual parents and only their own biological children is really not more common than any one of a number of other possibilities anymore (at least from what i see with my kids' friends, as a scout leader, etc). So, the argument that keeps coming up that somehow allowing gay marriage will change the dynamic of families is totally off base because that dynamic HAS changed and continues to change and will change regardless.

My kids are friends with families with mixed races and mixed nationalities. They have friends with single moms, who are adopted, split between mom and dad, being raised by an aunt, being raised by both biological parents, one who loves with a step mother after mom relinquished custody and then dad later divorced the step mother and left his son behind, all kinds of things.

The only difference it makes to my kids is how many phone numbers and addresses they need to know to get a hold of each friend (some live in 2-3 places at different times).

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I never really stopped to look at the different family structures of DS's friends, but you are absolutely right.

 

[C&G'sMama]

And that was the point I was trying to make. It's big in New York right now, because there is a bill sitting in the state legislature. It's a scene that has been played out in other states and will continue to be across the country.

So all these people are tyring to protect the "Traditional" American Family. And I started to think of all the families we know and it's every combination you can think of. So my conclusion is the family that "they" are trying to protect is a myth.